Apparatus and method for supporting applications in a distributed network

ABSTRACT

The methods and apparatus disclosed herein include a platform for providing loyalty, advertising and gaming functionality across multiple applications. Actions by users within applications and interactions with advertising may be rewarded via a loyalty program. In one implementation, functional elements are provided to application developers to enable their applications to communicate with a loyalty system, receive awards based on user behavior, among other functions. In another aspect, an interactive gaming and advertising platform is provided that may support multiplayer online computer games for prizes with elements of messaging and social networking between players embedded into the game play itself, whereby players may use mobile computing devices or traditional desk-top computing devices in order to verify their location and claim a measure of control over their location.

RELATED APPLICATIONS

This application claims priority under 35 U.S.C. §119(e) to U.S.Provisional Application No. 61/382,216 entitled “APPARATUS AND METHODFOR SUPPORTING LOCATION-BASED MOBILE GAMES”, filed on Sep. 13, 2010, thecontents of which is incorporated by reference herein in its entirety.

FIELD OF INVENTION

The invention generally relates to electronic commerce and interactivedirect marketing, and more particularly to online gaming, advertisingand social networking.

BACKGROUND

Games for fun and prizes have been a popular pastime since recordedhistory. Nero was addicted to gambling on chariot races; Tutankhamen'stomb was stocked with ivory board games; the Mayflower sailed to the NewWorld on lottery money. Closer to the present in 1972, Pong—the firstelectronic game—was unleashed on an unsuspecting public, spawning amyriad of game worlds and a menagerie of characters from Jet Set Willyto Lara Croft. The new millennium has been filled with fantastic newdigital offerings replete with online casinos, immersive virtual worlds,high-end video games and a plethora of casual and social game venues tooccupy one's time.

Historically, games have been played in real-time with otherparticipants. Wei-qi in China (later called “Go” in Japan) was played inreal-time between two players as far back as 2000 BC. Many differenttypes of games have emerged since then but up until the emergence of themodern day telecommunication infrastructure all games where played inreal-time at the location of the game.

Games have been played for their entertainment value and in some cases,the chance to win a prize, but it is also true that games are played ascatalyst for social interaction, meaning people enjoy playing games butalso enjoy the social interaction with friends and family that occurduring the game play. The card game of Bridge is a good example of thisphenomenon. It could be said that games and social interaction have gonehand-in-hand since recorded time.

Since the emergence of the modern day telecommunications (particularlythe Internet), games no longer required participants to be in the samelocation. These days, it is not uncommon for players to compete againstone another across vast distances. For example, in is not unusual fortwo people to play backgammon on Pogo.com even though one player residesin the UK while the other is living in the USA. Distance between playerswas rendered almost irrelevant for most games. Games have evenincorporated virtual places like Zynga Inc.'s Farmville where playerstend a virtual farm complete with tasks like watering and fertilizingtheir virtual crops. Up to 50 million Americans (and even moreworldwide) play online casual and social games every day. Games for funand prizes have been a popular pastime since recorded history. TheInternet has allowed more players to connect through game play.

It is also true that modern day telecommunications have allowed humansto be more social. Starting with the telegraph and then the telephoneand then eventually using the Internet. Couple the invention andmaturation of the internet with the emergence of social networks likeFacebook and people are now capable of maintaining ever larger groups offriends. More human social connections are made using the internet thancould ever be established and maintained in the analog world alone.

Social media and networking has become an integral part of modernsociety. There are general social networks like Facebook that havemembership bases larger than the population of most countries. There areniche sites for virtually every special interest out there. There aresites to share photos, videos, status updates, sites for meeting newpeople and sites to connect with old friends.

It seems there are social solutions to just about every need. However,despite their ability to target users in real time, based on theassociative content of the social media site, very few of these siteshave yet to make money commensurate with their massive membership bases.

However, as with all technological advances, there are limits.Specifically, limits to how many social connections one can maintain.Anthropological studies suggest that the maximum number is around 200.Facebook claims the average number of “friends” a person has on theirsystem is 100. Clearly, people can have more virtual “friends” onlinethan they can maintain in the real world. In fact, as social networksmake one's life more transparent, there is movement towards having fewer“friends” online

The telecommunication infrastructure, until recently, has been mostlystationary (e.g., land line telephones and desktop computers connectedto the internet). A person's location was where their telecommunicationsequipment and connections where implemented. The recent maturation ofthe mobile telecommunications industry along with the embedded locationaware technology has changed that. In essence, person's location is nolonger fixed to their home or office. People are free to roam while theyuse the telecommunications infrastructure.

Location-aware technology is a general term for technology that candetermine its own geographical location. A familiar example is theGlobal Positioning System (GPS)—the navigation system that is installedin many cars today. A GPS uses satellites to triangulate its position onthe surface of the Earth. It then displays this position on a map. Valueis added when physical information is combined with descriptions aboutthat location (e.g. street layouts, local landmarks, directions to adestination, etc.). Related terms include “georeferencing” and“geotagging,” which refer to specifying the geographic locationassociated with some piece of information. An example of this would berelating key events in history to points on a map, thus enabling a newway to navigate the content and discover relationships within it.

Almost all new phones are now location aware combined with access to theInternet and the general sophistication of the mobile device itself(e.g. computational speed, screen size, ease of use, etc. . . . ) hascreated a demand for new generation of social networking systems basedon location as well as location-based games that are truly entertainingto the player. People it seems are coming full circle in their beliefthat most of their meaningful connections (e.g., friends and family) arelocal and most of their activities are local as well.

The explosive growth of location aware mobile devices including phones,personal digital assistants and pagers presents tremendous opportunitiesfor companies to increase sales, improve productivity, and providebetter service. But simply making existing applications available overmobile devices doesn't completely capitalize on the opportunities. Formfactor, browsers, input/output limitations and even the type oftransactions that are likely to be conducted all have to be considered.By leveraging location-based technologies within the mobile application,one can dramatically improve the adoption rate also take advantage of awhole new class of applications that aren't possible on desktop devices.

As the Internet has taken hold in mainstream society, a whole new way toadvertise has emerged that is generally said to be better and moreefficient than traditional media (radio, TV, outdoor billboards andprint) and traditional direct mail. The difference the internet bringsis a much finer level of targeting as well as the ability to target aprospective customer in real time. For example, when a potentialcustomer does a search for a new car, automobile manufactures can buykeywords that target that potential customer while the potentialconsumer is conducting their search. This level of real-time targetinghas revolutionized how marketers interact with potential customers andhas generally led to higher levels of advertising efficiency.

With the emergence of location aware technologies and platforms alongwith internet-based social networking and gaming applications, themobile channel has emerge from obscurity and matured dramatically as amarketing channel to consumers, a practice popularly referred to asmobile marketing. Mobile marketing is used for a number of purposes,including brand building, prospecting, commerce, customer relationshipmanagement and advertising.

Mobile advertising, unlike traditional advertising channels where theindividual consumer is often anonymous, is extremely targeted to one'spersonal demographics, consumer preferences and one's location and itsrelation to a commercial establishment (even more powerful thannon-mobile Internet advertising). Marketers can use the mobile channelto reach out and engage an individual directly, but it is clear, due tothe degree by which a marketer can target and individual, that greatcare must be taken to insure that the individual isn't spooked by theadvertising or turned off by it. Ideally, any system that can encouragea person to “opt-in” is preferable as it allows the individual to acceptthe terms by which they will be targeted. The emergence of online gameshas created tremendous player engagement and loyalty. This engagementhas been crucial in allowing marketers the time, opportunity andpermission to market messages to these potential customers.

SUMMARY

In one aspect of the present invention, the user is permitted tointeract with an application or service (referred to hereinafter as the“the service”) on their computer system (e.g., a mobile device) withupon which the service is executed. One or more services may beintegrated with an application (such as a location-based game or otherapplication) that spans multiple applications or services that executeon the mobile device. According to one embodiment, an application suchas a location-based game or other application permits a user to receivesome benefit in the application based on actions performed by the userin the multiple applications or services. That is, an application thatintegrates with other multiple applications or services that execute onthe system may provide a benefit to the user based on the user's actionsperformed in these multiple applications or services on the system.

In one example implementation, the application includes a loyalty-basedsystem that spans multiple applications or services by, for instance,tracking user interaction within the multiple applications or servicesexecuting on the computer system. When users perform a desired actionwithin the application or service executing on the computer system, theuser may be awarded loyalty points that the user can redeem for one ormore benefits.

In another implementation, the application may also integrate with an adnetwork to display ads to the user in real time, and to generate awardsthat can be provided to users. Users may be permitted to accrue loyaltypoints or other value types while interacting with the multipleapplications or services, and may be permitted to redeem these accruedpoints for awards having some value to the user. For instance, loyaltypoints may be exchanged in the system for products/services, discountson products/services, gift cards, entries to games, entries tosweepstakes, free product samples, points in other loyalty programs orany other thing having value. Loyalty points may be accrued, forinstance, if the user views a particular advertisement, watches anadvertising video, or receives other content from the advertiser.

According to one embodiment, the user may be awarded points that may beredeemed online via an interface of a mobile device (e.g., a smartphone). For instance, the user may be provided an interface that allowsthe user to check on his/her awards point balance, redeem points forvarious products, services, offers, discounts or any other thing of realvalue to the user. Further, because a standard interface is providedthat permits a user to receive points from multiple providers and redeempoints among a number of different reward providers, a more interestingand compelling rewards program is provided. Further, the cost ofdevelopment for a particular application is reduced as the awardsprogram can be easily integrated within an application by the developer.

Notably, actions performed by the user among multiple applications aremonitored by a loyalty system that provides the loyalty awardsresponsive to those actions. In this way, loyalty programs may bestandardized and easily implemented among application providers. In oneimplementation, an application programming interface (API) is providedthat permits developers to define activities within their applicationsthat should be monitored/rewarded by the loyalty system. The interfacemay be provided as a series of functions that, when executed, causeinformation to be communicated to a loyalty system regarding thebehavior of the user. For instance, a developer may define a triggerthat is activated when the user performs an action within anapplication, and a function signals the loyalty system when the actionis performed (e.g., when the trigger is activated). To this end, anapplication platform may be provided which includes functions that canbe included within an application that allow the application tocommunicate with the loyalty system.

Further, it is appreciated that applications provided on mobilecomputing systems such as smart phones have become very popular and thattracking of behavior among multiple applications is not currentlypossible. Advertisers that would like to target users based on theirbehaviors are not currently capable of viewing the behavior of a useracross multiple applications. To this end, a system may be provided thattracks the behavior of the user across multiple applications and targetsadvertisements to be displayed to the user based on the knowledge of theuser's behavior within each of the separate applications provided.Currently, application providers do not have a global view of the user'sbehavior, as they are limited only to their interactions with the userwithin their own application. Because behavior is tracked among multipleapplications, that information may be communicated to an applicationprovider.

For instance, in one embodiment, information relating to a user'sbehavior may be communicated to a social networking system and sharedamong other users in that particular user's social network. Thus, thesocial networking system may be provided a view of the user's behaviorand the social networking system may perform functions based on theuser's behavior. Also, a user may choose to share their activitieswithin applications with their friends. In one example, a user maycommunicate their use of a particular application to another user intheir social network and may provide their ratings of a particularapplication, share their preferences for particular applications, orshare their usage of applications with others in their social network.For instance, a user's in-application activity may be communicated tousers in the well-known Facebook social networking application/system orother social networking system. Award progress may be communicated toother people in the user's social network (e.g., in a leaderboardconstruct) to encourage increased application activity among peoplewithin the social network.

According to other embodiments, a system that provides communicationconnectivity between a loyalty program and a social networking systemmay provide other additional benefits. For example, a loyalty system mayprovide loyalty points to a user responsive to the user performing abeneficial action with respect to his/her social network. For instance,the user may be provided loyalty points by the loyalty system responsiveto the user forwarding an advertisement to someone in their socialnetwork. Because a platform may be provided that links social networkingplatforms with both a loyalty system and an advertising network, suchfunctions are now possible.

According to yet another aspect, a status of the user may be providedresponsive to actions by the user within the application. For instance,the user may be awarded points, badges, or other status responsive tothe user's actions performed among a number of applications. Accordingto one embodiment, application developers may be provided a facility todetermine what awards are provided for specific actions. In someimplementations, the application developer may define their own awardsor currency within the platform. To this end, interfaces may be providedfor application developers to define their own awards based on userbehavior. Similarly, advertisers may provide points, badges, or otherstatus to the user based on their actions. Such an environment mayprovide a universal tool for implementing loyalty programs responsive toapplication behavior performed by the user over multiple applications.

In another embodiment, the platform may provide “skinnable” games thatpermit advertisers or application developers to more easily promotetheir applications, products, or services. Such games may provideadditional entertainment value, promote brand awareness, and otherwisefurther the marketing goals of the provider.

In another implementation, the application includes a game that spansmultiple services such as a location-based service. Similar to theloyalty program construct discussed above, a user may play a game thatspans multiple location-based services or applications. The user mayperform actions within these location-based services or applicationsthat are location-aware, and the user may achieve some standing or otheraward in the location-based game (referred to hereinafter as “thegame”).

The game may be a chance or skill-based game and, according to oneembodiment the game can be a simple scavenger hunt game whereby playersare collecting tokens and hiding tokens or other item or game elementtypes. The player, based on their location as recorded and transmittedby their mobile device, can view their location based service and seeprize tokens that are positioned on the map. The player, if within adefined range of the token (e.g., their current location is within acertain distance of the token), can collect or obtain that token. Bydoing so, they player could win points which could then advance theirposition on a leader board. Additionally, the player could leave tokensfrom an inventory of available tokens for other players to collectwhereby they too could win points to the same or different leaderboardcompetition. One could appreciate all the different variations you coulddevelop using the idea of player, location, game and collecting andleaving chances to play a game.

Further, given the above, clearly there also exists a need for a systemand apparatus that leverages the emergence of location aware technology,the advances in mobile technology and the now the seemingly ubiquitoususe of the mobile web, people's need to maintain meaningful andmanageable social networks and games that entertain and strengthen thosesocial networks.

New and more compelling game formats are needed for location basedservice providers that keep players' engaged in a service and ultimatelymore loyal to that service. According to one embodiment of the presentinvention, it is appreciated there is a great deal of effort and expenseto introduce a location based service, especially if it is a dedicatedapplication that needs approval by the operating system providers(Apple, Google, Microsoft, et al).

It is also appreciated that there is a lot of competition for eachlocation based application and service. For example, Foursquare,facebook Places and many other location-based services compete for usersto engage with their particular “check-in” location feature. Theseservices differentiate themselves by layering on added benefits to notonly checking in to real world locations but by offering users “to do”lists, tips about various places, the ability to capture “badges/stamps”among others.

It therefore would be beneficial to be able to reduce the applicationapproval effort in introducing new game elements to a location basedservice that are exciting to players to play while at the same timeallow users of the service to not only win prizes but also be thedistributor of chances to win prizes in order to encourage more locationbased social interactions. To this end, according to one aspect of thepresent invention, a system offers an application interface (referred tohereinafter as the “API”) that allows a location based game, loyalty,and/or advertising functionality to be incorporated into any otherapplication or service (e.g., location based services). Because thisgeneral functionality is provided to any application or service, thecost of developing applications with such functionality is reduced.

Because, according to one embodiment involving a location-based game,the game utilizes location as a primary element in its game play, itlayers seamlessly into the other location based service or services.Also, because the location based game application has already beenapproved by the operating system providers, it therefore reduces thehurdles associated with releasing and updating the location basedapplication.

Additionally, another aspect of the invention includes allowing users toplay the game, which is primarily driven by their location, todistribute prize elements or chances to win prizes as part of the gameplay. This encourages not only game play and use of the location baseservice but also interaction between users of the game.

In one aspect of the present invention, the user is permitted tointeract with a location-based application or service on their mobiledevice (referred to hereinafter as the “the service”) during which theservice overlays the location-based game (referred to hereinafter as“the game”). The game may be a chance or skill-based game and, accordingto one embodiment the game can be a simple scavenger hunt game wherebyplayers are collecting tokens and hiding tokens or other item or gameelement types. The player, based on their location as recorded andtransmitted by their mobile device, can view their location basedservice and see prize tokens that are positioned on the map. The player,if within a defined range of the token (e.g., their current location iswithin a certain distance of the token), can collect or obtain thattoken. By doing so, they player could win points which could thenadvance their position on a leader board. Additionally, the player couldleave tokens from an inventory of available tokens for other players tocollect whereby they too could win points to the same or differentleaderboard competition. One could appreciate all the differentvariations you could develop using the idea of player, location, gameand collecting and leaving chances to play a game.

It should be appreciated that the game may be any other type of gamewhere an outcome is location dependent and can be determined. Theservice may be any type of location-based service, including any mappingor navigation service, asset tracking and location, what's near,check-in service etc. The game may be any type of game including but notlimited to games of skill and/or chance, such as card games, casinogames, video games or any other type of game through which a result canbe determined. In one aspect of the present invention, the use of thelocation based service does not affect the outcome of the game otherthan the use of the player's location to determine eligibility to playthe game. In another aspect of the present invention, the game could bedependent on the location based service. For example, a businessdisplayed on the location based service could buy the right to havetheir branded tokens and prizes made available to the players. Inanother example, the location based service itself could provide tokensand prizes that can only be found using that service. One skilled in theart can appreciate that there be many iterations to this basicconstruct.

In one example, the game involves traps and the placing of these trapsto capture prey that virtually inhabit real locations. The player, asthey travel across the real world using a location based service, couldset traps in specific locations where prey (which may be expressedanother metaphor for chances to win) can be caught. In this instance,the prey caught could unlock points, sweepstakes entries, coupons oractual cash or merchandise items. In one example, they player couldcatch the prey and accrue chances to win and could then release the preyto be caught by other players. In another example, some players could bethe prey while others are the ones who set the traps. In anotherexample, players could be allocated a certain number of traps to playand a certain number of prey to release. One skilled in the art canappreciate there are many ways to construct such a game following thepremise of location-based prey that can be virally transmitted to otherplayers.

According to one aspect of the invention, players could travel around tovarious locations and while using a location based service, the playermay be permitted to collect and drop game pieces. According to oneimplementation, the player may operate an interface of a location basedservice application displayed to the player on a portable device (e.g.,a smart phone). The interface may be modified to display game elementsrelating to the location-based game. For instance, the player may view aGoogle Maps interface having game pieces overlayed on the Google Mapsinterface.

According to one aspect of the invention, players could travel around tovarious locations and while using a location based service and collectand drop invitations to play in other games that are not dependent onlocation.

According to one aspect of the invention, players could travel around tovarious locations and while using a location based service and play onegame which wins them entry in a secondary game. That game could be asingle player game or multiplayer game.

According to one aspect of the invention, players could travel around tovarious locations and while using a location based service and playbattleship style games with other players that are nearby.

According to one aspect of the invention, players could travel around tovarious locations and while using a location based service and constructa game where they are the prize. For instance, a player may participatein a dating game where they are the prize, and they leave clues as totheir background, interests, etc. in locations they have been.

According to one aspect of the invention, players could travel around tovarious locations and while using a location based service and constructa game where they control who plays and what they are playing for. Thismay permit, for example, private competitions that could be set up byindividual players, sponsors, and the like. For instance, private gamesmay be set up for a neighborhood, or other location (e.g., a college oruniversity) that may permit players to play within these locations.

According to one aspect of the present invention, a computer-implementedmethod is provided. The computer-implemented method comprises acts ofmonitoring user-initiated actions within a plurality of executingapplications, the executing applications being executed on a computersystem associated with a user, determining, by the computer system, thatthe user performed at least one application-related action, sending anindication of the application-related action to a loyalty system,determining an award based on the application-related action,communicating an indication of the award to the computer system, anddisplaying the indication of the award to the user. According to oneembodiment of the present invention, the computer-implemented methodfurther comprises an act of requiring the user to accept the award.According to another embodiment of the invention, thecomputer-implemented method further comprises an act of providing aninterface to the plurality of executing applications to communicateevents relating to user-initiated actions within the plurality ofexecuting applications. According to another embodiment of theinvention, the computer-implemented method further comprises acts ofcommunicating an advertisement to the computer system, displaying theadvertisement to the user in the display of the computer system, andproviding an award to the user responsive to the user viewing theadvertisement.

According to one embodiment of the present invention, thecomputer-implemented method further comprises an act of sending at leastone event relating to at least one user-initiated action within theplurality of executing applications to the loyalty system. According toanother embodiment of the invention, the computer-implemented methodfurther comprises an act of storing, by the loyalty system, anindication of the at least one event relating to the at least oneuser-initiated action within the plurality of executing applications.According to another embodiment of the invention, thecomputer-implemented method further comprises an act of determining, bythe loyalty system, if the at least one event relating to the at leastone user-initiated action within the plurality of executing applicationsmeets a predefined behavior defined by the loyalty system. According toanother embodiment of the invention, if it is determined by the loyaltysystem that the at least one event meets the predefined behavior, themethod comprises performing an act of providing content to anapplication that triggered the at least one event. According to anotherembodiment of the invention, the computer-implemented method furthercomprises an act of determining a location of the user based on alocation of the computer system, and determining the award to the userresponsive to the determined location of the user.

According to one embodiment of the present invention, thecomputer-implemented method further comprises an act of storing, by theloyalty system, a plurality of events, and storing, by the loyaltysystem, an association of the plurality of events with a predefinedbehavior. According to another embodiment of the invention, thecomputer-implemented method further comprises acts of determining if thepredefined behavior is achieved by one or more application-relatedactions performed by the user, and if the predefined behavior isachieved, selecting content to be displayed to the user, andcommunicating the selected content to the computer system associatedwith the user. According to another embodiment of the invention, thepredefined behavior is defined across a plurality of applications thatare executed by the computer system associated with the user. Accordingto another embodiment of the invention, the computer-implemented methodfurther comprises acts of registering, by the loyalty system, at leastone of the plurality of executing applications, generating, by theloyalty system, authentication information to be used by theapplication, using the authentication information to authenticate theapplication with the loyalty system, communicating, by the authenticatedapplication to the loyalty system, that the user performed the at leastone application-related action.

According to one embodiment of the invention, the computer-implementedmethod further comprising an act of storing an association between thepredefined behavior and the at least one of the plurality of executingapplications. According to another embodiment of the invention, thecomputer-implemented method further comprises acts of presenting aninterface to an operator to define one or more awards based on one ormore application-related actions, and presenting an interface targetingthe one or more awards to one or more applications.

According to one aspect of the present invention, a distributed computersystem is provided that comprises a component adapted to monitoruser-initiated actions within a plurality of executing applications, theexecuting applications being executed on a computer system associatedwith a user, a component that is adapted to determine that the userperformed at least one application-related action, a component that isadapted to send an indication of the application-related action to aloyalty system, wherein the loyalty system is adapted to determine anaward based on the application-related action and communicate anindication of the award to the computer system associated with the user,and a component adapted to display the indication of the award to theuser. According to one embodiment of the present invention, the systemfurther comprises a component that requires the user to accept theaward. According to another embodiment of the invention, the systemfurther comprises an interface to the plurality of executingapplications that is adapted to communicate events relating touser-initiated actions within the plurality of executing applications.According to another embodiment of the invention, the system furthercomprises a component adapted to communicate an advertisement to thecomputer system, a component adapted to display the advertisement to theuser in the display of the computer system, and a component adapted toprovide an award to the user responsive to the user viewing theadvertisement. According to another embodiment of the invention, thesystem further comprises component adapted to send at least one eventrelating to at least one user-initiated action within the plurality ofexecuting applications to the loyalty system.

According to one embodiment of the present invention, the system furthercomprises component adapted to store, by the loyalty system, anindication of the at least one event relating to the at least oneuser-initiated action within the plurality of executing applications.According to another embodiment of the invention, the system furthercomprises a component that is adapted to determine if the at least oneevent relating to the at least one user-initiated action within theplurality of executing applications meets a predefined behavior definedby the loyalty system. According to another embodiment of the invention,if it is determined by the loyalty system that the at least one eventmeets the predefined behavior, a component is adapted to perform an actof providing content to an application that triggered the at least oneevent. According to another embodiment of the invention, the systemfurther comprises a component adapted to determine a location of theuser based on a location of the computer system, and a component adaptedto determine the award to the user responsive to the determined locationof the user. According to another embodiment of the invention, thesystem further comprises a component adapted to store a plurality ofevents, and a component adapted to store an association of the pluralityof events with a predefined behavior.

According to one embodiment of the present invention, the system furthercomprises a component adapted to determine if the predefined behavior isachieved by one or more application-related actions performed by theuser, and if the predefined behavior is achieved, a component isconfigured to select content to be displayed to the user, and acomponent adapted to communicate the selected content to the computersystem associated with the user. According to another embodiment of theinvention, the predefined behavior is defined across a plurality ofapplications that are executed by the computer system associated withthe user. According to another embodiment of the invention, the systemfurther comprises a component adapted to register at least one of theplurality of executing applications, a component adapted to generateauthentication information to be used by the application, a componentadapted to use the authentication information to authenticate theapplication with the loyalty system, and a component adapted tocommunicate, that the user performed the at least oneapplication-related action using the authentication information.According to one embodiment of the present invention, the system furthercomprises a component adapted to store an association between thepredefined behavior and the at least one of the plurality of executingapplications. According to another embodiment of the invention, thesystem further comprises an interface that is adapted to permit anoperator to define one or more awards based on one or moreapplication-related actions; and wherein the interface is furtheradapted to target the one or more awards to one or more applications.

According to one aspect of the present invention, a computer-implementedmethod is provided. The computer-implemented method comprises acts ofproviding a location-based game played by at least one user through amobile device, determining a location of the at least one user, usingthe determined status of the at least one user to update a status of thelocation-based game, and communicating the status of the location-basedgame among a plurality of location-based services. According to anotherembodiment of the invention, the act of determining a location of the atleast one user includes an act of determining the location of the atleast one user by the mobile device. According to another embodiment ofthe invention, the method further comprises presenting a game element ofthe location-based game within the plurality of location-based services.According to another embodiment of the invention, the method furthercomprises providing an abstraction layer that communicates with theplurality of location-based services. According to another embodiment ofthe invention, the method further comprises an act of permitting the atleast one user to observe the status of the location-based game using aninterface of at least one of the plurality of location-based services.

According to one embodiment of the present invention, the method furthercomprises an act of creating, within the interface of at least one ofthe plurality of location-based services, at least one game elementassociated with the location-based game. According to another embodimentof the invention, the method further comprises an act of permitting theat least one user to place the at least one game element in a locationrepresented within the location-based service. According to anotherembodiment of the invention, the method further comprises permitting atleast one other user to interact with the at least one game elementwithin the location-based game. According to another embodiment of theinvention, the method further comprises an act of permitting the atleast one user to move the at least one game element to anotherlocation. According to another embodiment of the invention, the methodfurther comprises an act of restricting the at least one user to place alimited number of game elements. According to another embodiment of theinvention, the method further comprises an act of permitting the atleast one user to collect the at least one game element if the at leastone user is located within a predetermined distance proximate to the atleast one game element. According to another embodiment of theinvention, the act of permitting the at least one user to collect the atleast one game element further comprises an act of permitting the atleast one user to collect the at least one game element if the at leastone player is located within an area designated by a provider of the atleast one game element.

According to one embodiment of the present invention, the at least onegame element is a trap that enables the at least one user to capture achance to win. According to another embodiment of the invention, the atleast one game element represents an opportunity to win a prize acrossthe plurality of location-based services. According to anotherembodiment of the invention, the method further comprises an act ofpermitting a prize sponsor to fund a prize that is located by the atleast one user across the plurality of location-based services.According to another embodiment of the invention, the method furthercomprises an act of permitting a sponsor to place at least one gameelement in a location across the plurality of location-based services.According to another embodiment of the invention, the at least one gameelement represents an opportunity to win a prize. According to anotherembodiment of the invention, the method further comprises an act ofpermitting the at least one user to observe the status of thelocation-based game using a plurality of interfaces associated withrespective ones of the plurality of location-based services, andpermitting the at least one user to switch between the plurality ofinterfaces to the location-based game. According to another embodimentof the invention, the method further comprises an act of permitting theat least one user to create parameters used in performing thelocation-based game.

According to one embodiment of the present invention, the method furthercomprises an act of associating the at least one user with a uniqueidentifier. According to another embodiment of the invention, the uniqueidentifier includes at least one of a group of information comprising ageographic location, elevation, identifier associated with the mobiledevice, username and password, elements located near the geographiclocation, and other users located near the geographic location.According to one embodiment of the present invention, the method furthercomprises acts of transmitting the unique identifier from the mobiledevice to a system located at a geographic location, and verifying thelocation of the at least one user at the geographic location. Accordingto one embodiment of the present invention, the method further comprisesdetermining a prize available to the at least one user based on his/herverified location. According to another embodiment of the invention, themethod further comprises permitting the user to play one or morelocation-based games within the interface of the mobile device.According to another embodiment of the invention, one or more of thelocation-based games includes one or more styles of play including aprize grabbing feature, a trapping game, a planting or seeding ofprizes, shooting prizes, and user-based prizes.

According to one embodiment of the present invention, the method furthercomprises determining a value of the prize based on one or more of thegroup comprising an establishment at or near the location of the atleast one user, demographic information of the at least one user,psychographic information of the at least one user, informationassociated with the mobile device, and contact information of the atleast one user. According to another embodiment of the invention, themethod further comprises wherein upon placing a prize, the at least oneuser can win based on the prize they placed. According to anotherembodiment of the invention, the at least one user can increase therange of gathering and placing prizes.

According to one aspect of the present invention, a computer-implementedmethod is provided. The computer-implemented method comprises acts ofproviding a location-based game played by at least one user through amobile device, determining a location of the at least one user,permitting the at least one user to place the at least one game elementin a location at or near the determined location of the at least oneuser, representing the at least one game element within at least oneinterface of a plurality of location-based services, and communicatingthe representation of the at least one game element among the pluralityof location-based services. According to one embodiment of the presentinvention, the method further comprises an act of permitting the atleast one user to observe the status of the location-based game using aplurality of interfaces associated with respective ones of the pluralityof location-based services, and permitting the at least one user toswitch between the plurality of interfaces to the location-based game.According to another embodiment of the invention, the act of determininga location of the at least one user includes an act of determining thelocation of the at least one user by the mobile device.

According to one aspect of the present invention, a distributed systemis provided. The distributed system comprises a game playing computeradapted to provide a location-based game played by at least one user,the game playing computer having a game interface that represents thegame to the at least one user, a component adapted to determine alocation of the at least one user, wherein the game interface permitsthe at least one user to place at least one game element in a locationat or near the determined location of the at least one user, a componentthat represents the at least one game element within at least oneinterface of a plurality of location-based services, and a componentthat is adapted to communicate the representation of the at least onegame element among the plurality of location-based services. Accordingto one embodiment of the present invention, the plurality oflocation-based services include a plurality of respective interfacesthrough which the location-based game is rendered, and wherein the gameplaying computer includes a component that permits the at least one userto switch between the plurality of respective interfaces. According toanother embodiment of the invention, component adapted to determine alocation of the at least one user includes a component of a mobiledevice associated with the at least one user.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF DRAWINGS

The accompanying drawings are not intended to be drawn to scale. In thedrawings, each identical or nearly identical component that isillustrated in various figures is represented by a like numeral. Forpurposes of clarity, not every component may be labeled in everydrawing. In the drawings:

FIG. 1 shows a block diagram of a system capable of implementing variousaspects of the present invention;

FIG. 2 shows a block diagram of a system for performing an applicationplatform that spans multiple applications and services according to oneembodiment;

FIG. 3 shows a flow chart of an exemplary method for performing amobile, location-based game according to one embodiment;

FIG. 4 shows a flow chart of an exemplary method for awarding a userresponsive to an action performed within an application;

FIG. 5 shows an example process for incentivizing user behavior in anapplication according to one embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 6 shows an example implementation of a platform that incentivizesuser behavior in an application;

FIG. 7 shows various aspects of a loyalty system according to variousembodiments of the present invention;

FIG. 8 shows one implementation of a system architecture that may beused to implement various aspects;

FIG. 9 shows a flow chart for monitoring user behavior according to oneembodiment;

FIG. 10 shows a flow chart for monitoring user behavior according toanother embodiment;

FIG. 11 shows a flow chart for determining the availability of a contestaccording to one embodiment;

FIG. 12 shows a flow chart for monitoring user behavior according toanother embodiment;

FIG. 13 shows a flow chart for monitoring user behavior according to oneembodiment;

FIG. 14 shows a flow chart for authenticating applications to a loyaltysystem according to one embodiment;

FIG. 15 shows a flow chart for integrating an application with a loyaltysystem platform according to one embodiment;

FIG. 16 shows a flow chart for providing awards and associating themwith application behaviors according to one embodiment;

FIG. 17 shows a flow chart for monitoring user behavior according to oneembodiment;

FIG. 18 shows a flow chart for monitoring user behavior according toanother embodiment;

FIG. 19 shows a flow chart for monitoring user behavior according toanother embodiment;

FIG. 20 shows an example user interface according to one embodiment;

FIG. 21 shows another example user interface according to oneembodiment;

FIG. 22 shows an example implementation for monitoring and rewardinguser behavior according to one embodiment;

FIGS. 23A-23C show various example user interfaces of a user deviceaccording to various embodiments;

FIGS. 24A-24C show further example user interfaces of a user deviceaccording to various embodiments; and

FIG. 25 shows another example embodiment of a user interface havingsocial networking functions.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

This invention is not limited in its application to the details ofconstruction and the arrangement of components set forth in thefollowing description or illustrated in the drawings. The invention iscapable of other embodiments and of being practiced or of being carriedout in various ways. Also, the phraseology and terminology used hereinis for the purpose of description and should not be regarded aslimiting. The use of “including,” “comprising,” “having,” “containing,”“involving,” and variations thereof herein is meant to encompass theitems listed thereafter and equivalents thereof as well as additionalitems.

FIG. 1 shows a distributed system 100 in which various aspects of thepresent invention may be practiced. In particular, a distributedcomputer system 100 may be provided that allows a user 103 using one ormore computer systems (e.g., a mobile device such as a tablet, laptop,smart phone, cell phone, or other device) to operate one or moreapplication programs (e.g., application 104). For instance, theapplication may include applications that perform particular functions,and these applications may be downloaded and executed on a mobiledevice.

According to one embodiment, actions performed by the user in one ormore applications (e.g., applications 104) may be tracked and integratedwith one or more loyalty, advertising and/or game playing servicesprovided by one or more systems (e.g., system 101). The applications mayaccess interfaces provided by a loyalty system which allows users toreceive awards based on actions taken by the users within theapplications. Further, the loyalty system may be coupled with anadvertising network that can deliver advertisements to the mobiledevice. In one embodiment, the user is provided some loyalty programbenefit responsive to ads displayer to the user, other interaction withadvertisement information (e.g., playing an advertisement-themed game),or interaction with the application itself (e.g., an “Angry Birds”badge).

In one embodiment, the application that spans multiple applications orservices may be a location-based game The location-based game may becoupled with one or more location based services, such as, but notlimited to mapping and/or navigation programs (e.g., the VZNavigatorapplication provided by the Verizon Wireless network, Google maps,Yahoo! Maps or other application), location-based check-in services(e.g., Facebook Places), location based What's Near services (e.g.,Where application), location-based asset tracking services, or any othertype of location-aware application that is capable of processinglocation information. According to one embodiment, the location-basedgame may be associated with multiple location-based services 102.

According to one aspect, the location-based game may permit the user tointerface with one or more of these location-based services to play thegame. For instance, when the game relates to locating game elements invarious locations, representations of those game elements may bepresented within each of the interfaces associated with the respectivelocation-based services. For instance, a representation of a gameelement may be displayed in a Google maps interface as well as aFoursquare interface. Players (users) may interact separately with thelocation-based applications, but yet still see and interact with commonelements of the location-based game. For instance, when the gameinvolves collecting items (e.g., prizes), graphical representations ofthe items may be displayed in each interface of the separatelocation-based applications. In another embodiment, a loyalty system maypermit the user to interface with one or more applications and/orservices to receive loyalty awards. In one embodiment, the user mayinteract with the applications in a traditional way, but may receiveloyalty rewards which interacting with the applications and/or services.

Distributed system 100 may also include one or more computer systems(e.g., system 101) that are used to conduct loyalty program, advertisingand game functions, save data between applications (e.g., loyaltyinformation, advertising performance data and data relating to gamingsessions), persist data when mobile devices are not connected, interfaceto social networking systems (e.g., Facebook, Twitter) store triggers,events, behavior data, rules of any games, among other functions.According to other embodiments, computer systems may be provided thatpermit an application provider to integrate loyalty program functionsand advertising functions within their applications, and define awardsto be provided to users based on their actions within applications.Further, computer systems may be provided that enable a game sponsor tocreate and sponsor games on a game development system. In such a system,the game sponsor may define rules, define/input prizes, and otheraspects of the location-based game.

FIG. 2 shows an example system for supporting an application accordingto one embodiment of the present invention. For instance, an applicationplatform 201 may be provided that permits a user (e.g., a developer,sponsor, game player or other user type) to create, monitor, andparticipate in loyalty programs that span one or more applications orservices. Platform 201 may include an abstraction layer 202 to hidedetails of the loyalty program, advertising delivery, social networkingintegration, and game implementations from application developers. Suchdetails may include application or service implementation details thatare specific to the application or service used. For instance,presentation of an item on a graphical user interface may be differentfrom the VZNavigator application interface versus the interface used inGoogle Maps. Further, a communication in Twitter may be easily performedfrom different applications using a common interface.

Information may be passed through the abstraction layer 202 (e.g., viaan Application Programming Interface (API)) back and forth between theapplication platform and any number of applications (e.g., applicationsA-Z (items 204A-Z)) or services (e.g., services 203A-203Z such as alocation-based service or social networking service). Such informationmay include information relating to loyalty program information, eventstriggered by a users while performing actions within applications, adcontent communicated to mobile devices, videos, or other ad data, gameelements, location-based information relating to the user, actionsperformed within the interface (e.g., movement, creation, deletion,modification of game elements) that are translated between multipledestinations within the distributed computer system (e.g., system 100).

FIG. 3 shows a process 300 for performing a mobile, location-based gameaccording to one embodiment. At block 301, process 300 begins. At block302, the system (e.g., on a mobile device) presents a location-basedgame and corresponding interface to the user. For instance, the game mayinclude an item collecting game wherein the user collects items within apredetermined range of the user's actual location as determined by alocation function. This location function that determined the user'slocation may include a GPS function, cell tower triangulation function,GSM localization function, Bluetooth, Wifi, RFID or other locationdetermining function performed by a mobile device (e.g., smart phone).Alternatively, a location-based function may be performed by systemsother than the mobile device that place the user at a particularlocation.

At block 303, the system (e.g., the mobile device) may determine thelocation of the user, and at block 304, the system may update a statusof the game based at least in part on the location of the user. In theexample of the item collection game, an interface of the item collectiongame may be changed to show items that may be collected by the userbased on the user's current location. The user may perform functionsassociated with that item at the location, and the game status may befurther updated, and information may be sent to other location-basedsystems at block 305. In one example, state information relating to thegame may be persisted to a memory of a game-playing computer, and stateinformation may be downloaded as necessary to other game-playing deviceswhen such devices are located at particular locations. State informationmay be communicated to other location-based services, and therefore thestate of the game can be communicated to other users using thelocation-based services. Generally, blocks 302-305 may be performedrepeatedly as the game persists, with the game state being updated inparallel by multiple players. At block 305, process 300 ends, such aswhen the game is terminated, there is/are one or more winnersdetermined, or other game-terminating event.

As discussed above, the game may include an opportunity for a user towin and to place a chance to win within the location-based game. Thismay involve the user being permitted to place an item or other gameelement in a location where the user is located (e.g., as determined bya mobile device). In one embodiment, there is an opportunity for a userto win across a plurality of location-based systems (LBS) and to place achance to win across a plurality of LBS systems. In this manner, thegame may be shared among multiple applications and system types andinterest in the game will be increased.

According to one embodiment of the invention shown in FIG. 4, a process400 is provided that allows a loyalty system to provide an award basedon user actions within an application program. At block 41, process 400begins. At block 402, a user takes an action within an application. Forinstance, the user may open an application, perform a particularfunction within the application, or perform any other action that isdesired by an application developer.

At block 403, in response to the action performed by the user within theapplication, a loyalty system may offer an award to the user. Forinstance, the application may display to a user within an interface of amobile device that an award can be accepted based on the user's behaviorwithin the application. At block 404, the user accepts the award (e.g.,by selecting a control within the interface that causes the award to beassociated with the user). After accepting the award, that award may beredeemed (e.g., at block 405) through one or more applicationinterfaces. In one embodiment, a standard user interface is provided tothe user for redeeming, monitoring, and interfacing with the loyaltysystem. At block 406, process 400 ends.

FIG. 5 shows an example process 500 for incentivizing user behavior inan application according to one embodiment of the invention. At block501, process 500 begins. As discussed above, according to one aspect, aplatform is provided for developers to incentivize certain behaviorsperformed by users within applications. For instance, at block 501, adeveloper is permitted to define in-application events (e.g., app events1-6), when activated by a user 504, incentives and rewards may beprovided to the user 504. Further, a developer may specify the number oftimes a particular event needs to occur before an incentive or an awardis provided to the user.

A system may be provided that tracks the particular user and storesinformation regarding the user. For instance, the system may store andtrack the user's age, gender, location, or other parameters related tothe user. Further, the system may observe behaviors of the user overtime and store that information to determine what incentives and rewardsmay be provided to particular users. Incentives and rewards may bedisplayed to the user based on particular context or relevance scoringto the user. At block 502, the system may observe and measure the user'sbehavior over time. At block 503, the system may target the mostrelavant incentives to the user based on an achieved level of behavior.

FIG. 6 shows an example implementation of a platform that incentivizesuser behavior in an application according to one embodiment of thepresent invention. For instance, as discussed above with respect to FIG.5, a user 504 is observed, tracked and targeted while the user operatesone or more applications. For instance, a developer may define an event(e.g., through a management interface that permits the developer todefine events and their criteria) that, when triggered, notifies aloyalty system that the particular event occurred. Responses to thisevent, the loyalty system may record the event and provide any awards orincentives.

The platform may be capable of indicating when an application eventoccurs and monitor and record all user behavior that relates toparticular events. Further, the platform may be capable of integratingwith one or more systems and accounts related to the user, such as atwitter account, a Facebook account, a Foursquare account or similaraccount associated with an application or service. The system may alsostore account information for the user from the system, such as usercredentials, application-specific identification information associatedwith the particular user, identifications of applications being trackedby the system, historical user behavior information, achieved awards,points, badges, or other player statuses, among other information.

Based on user behaviors, device information (e.g., location,application-specific information), and user data, content is driven bythe system to the computing device operated by the user. For instance,as shown in FIG. 6, a number of application events may be defined thatmay be tracked by the system. For example, events may be tracked such asa user launching a particular game, a user signing into Facebook, theuser reaching a certain level in a game, the user “Shazams” a song, auser achieving a vendor-specific achievement (e.g., Best Buy), or theuser performing some other application-specific action. Also, the eventsmay be complex, in that the user needs to perform certain events (andpossibly in a certain sequence) before achieving an award or status.Content is delivered to the user within the interface of the system(e.g., a mobile device) based on the event or combination of events thatare triggered. According to one embodiment, the content is delivered inan in-application context within the interface of the mobile device.

FIG. 7 shows various components of a loyalty system and processesperformed by that system according to various embodiments of the presentinvention. At block 701, a number of actions may be performed by theloyalty system responses to a user performing some action and an eventbeing triggered. For instance, a message may be displayed to the user, abadge may be unlocked, points may be awarded, any local currency definedmay be awarded, any other type of award may be presented, and/or a callto action requiring the user to perform some additional action. At thispoint, the loyalty system may provide additional information to orrequire additional action from the user.

For instance, the loyalty system may display the user's point balance702 display any badge/award info 703, provide information regarding anybadge/award opportunities 704, display additional opportunities for auser to obtain more points in an offer 705, and/or provide redemptionopportunities 706 to the user within the display of the mobile device.

In one embodiment, to obtain additional points, a user may be permittedto perform one or more additional activities that may permit them toobtain additional points. For instance, the loyalty system may associatea video, that when viewed by the user in its entirety, with anadditional points earning opportunity for that particular user. Thevideo may be related to some product being advertised and may bedisplayed to the user on the mobile device. In one embodiment, thesystem may track when viewing is completed (e.g., by the mobile deviceof the user) prior to awarding any points to the user.

In another opportunity, a user may be presented an “Advergame” 708 inwhich advertising content is displayed to the user while the user playsparticular game. For instance, the user may be presented a “skinned”game where the game has some advertising content included within thegame. Further, in another opportunity, the user may be permitted toprovide additional data regarding the user's opinion, more detailedinformation about the user, or other information that is of interest tothe advertiser. Once provided, the user may be awarded additionalpoints. In yet another opportunity, the user may be awarded points basedon actions taken within his/her social network as discussed above. Forinstance, the user may be presented some control that allows anadvertisement to be directed to one or more people in the user's socialnetwork. When the advertisement is sent, that user may be awardedpoints.

The loyalty system may perform other functions such as displaying badgeinformation 711 relating to badges that the user has achieved as well asbadges yet to be achieved for particular actions. Badges may be createdby developers, service providers, advertisers or other user types withinthe loyalty system. Further, the loyalty system may include a redemptionwall 712 that displays that displays redemptions of points by the user.The loyalty system may provide functionality that allows the user totrack redemptions and point totals on his/her mobile device.

FIG. 8 shows one implementation of a system architecture that may beused to implement various aspects of the present invention. A system 800may include one or more computer systems that execute variouscomponents. In particular, there may be components 801 that execute on aclient computer system that interface with one or more components of theloyalty system. An API is provided that permits the user device toregister events that occur on the device, receives content from theloyalty system, received awards from the loyalty system, and maintain anoverall communication session. According to one embodiment, the systemmay include one or more components that execute on a mobile device andcommunicate application event information to the loyalty system. In oneembodiment, such components may be provided as part of a softwaredevelopment kit (SDK) to application developers to extend loyalty, addelivery, and award incentive functionality to their applications. Oneor more functions may be stored on non-volatile computer-readable media(e.g., memory, disk, storage) in a distributed computing network.

System 800 may also include one or more web services 811 that performsuch session management, registration of events, obtaining content to bethe user's device, and awards to be presented to the user. System 800may include components that perform advertisement and content targeting805 to particular users based on information known about that user andthe applications and actions performed by the user. As discussed above,the system may target particular behaviors and/or events that occur onthe user device, and a component 806 may be provided that includes logicthat targets certain behaviors and/or events.

System 800 may include a content management component 807 that managescontent for a particular user. Content management component 807 mayinclude logic that determines what content is provided to the userresponsive to component 805. Component 807 may also include elementsthat manage the content provided from advertisers, applicationproviders, or other users that may provide content to the system.Component 808 includes logic that targets particular awards toparticular users based on information known about the user, theirhistorical use of applications, and their behaviors. As discussed above,system 800 may permit the user to enter contests and sweepstakes, andtherefore a component 809 may provide management of such activities.Further, system 800 may include an awards and offer redemption component810 that manages the redemption and distribution of awards to particularusers.

System 800 may have different components that interface with particularentities, and system may store information relating to those entities.For instance, system 800 may include one or more data stores and sources815 of information relating to the various entities that interact withthe loyalty system. For instance, there may be a developer's store 812that contains information relating to particular developers. Further,there may be application specific information stored by an applicationstore 813. There may also be a database relating to particular locations814, in the case where the loyalty points are awarded based on locationor site.

System 800 may also include a data store 816 for users and their pointsand any awards provided to a particular user. System 800 may alsoinclude an application events database 817 where particular applicationevents are uniquely identified. System 800 may also include anadvertisement store 818 which includes any advertising text andpromotion information that an advertiser may provide. Store 819 mayinclude any awards or offers that may be provided by an advertiser orapplication provider responses to actions performed by the user. System800 may also include an advertiser data store 820 that storesinformation relating to a particular advertiser. As discussed above,system 800 may manage and provide user access to contests andsweepstakes, and therefore may include a store 821 that includesinformation relating to these activities. System 800 may also include astore 823 that records behaviors which need to be tracked in order todetermine whether particular events are satisfied. For instance, aseries of behaviors may be necessary to trigger a particular event.

System 800 may also include a number of third-party interfaces 824 thatpermit advertisers, developers, and other user types to access thesystem and provide any relevant content, advertisements, manage eventsand triggers, configure contests and sweepstakes, among other actions.

System 800 may also have a developer and publisher portal 802 thatallows application developers to integrate their applications to system800. Users may access system 800 via a user portal 803 to performfunctions such as managing points, receiving awards, redeeming points,viewing activity, among other functions. System 800 may also include anadvertiser portal 804 that permits the advertiser to monitor activityrelating to their advertisements, such as for example, whenadvertisements are displayed, reports relating to the locations ofdevices to which advertisements are displayed, awards redeemed from thatadvertiser, statistical information relating to users that receive theadvertisements, among other information that is useful for theadvertiser.

FIGS. 9-19 show various processes that may be performed in associationwith a loyalty system (e.g., system 800). For instance, FIG. 9 shows aflowchart for monitoring user behavior according to one embodiment ofthe present invention. At block 901, process 900 begins. At block 902, asoftware development kit (SDK) component transmits an event with akeyword to the loyalty system (e.g., system 800). In one embodiment, theSDK may include a component that executes at the mobile device, and inone embodiment, components may be provided that are compiled along withan application that is executed on the device. The SDK component may, inone embodiment, be a component that is compiled with an application, orit may be a separate component or application on the user system (e.g.,mobile device). At block 903, the system checks the received eventagainst behaviors. At block 904, the system stores an event associatedto an application. If a behavior is achieved, the system returnsassociated content to the SDK at block 905. In block 906, the SDKdisplays or caches content for later display on the mobile device.

FIG. 10 shows a flowchart for monitoring user behavior according to oneembodiment of the present invention. At block 1001, process 1000 begins.At block 1002, the SDK transmits a request for content to the loyaltysystem (e.g., system 800). In one embodiment, the system may check auser account for eligibility at block 1003. If it is determined that theuser account is eligible, the system returns the associated content tothe SDK for display on the mobile device at block 1004. At block 1005,the SDK displays or caches content for later display on the mobiledevice. At block 1006, process 1000 ends.

FIG. 11 shows a flowchart for determining the availability of a contestaccording to one embodiment of the present invention. At block 1101,process 1100 begins. At block 1102, the SDK transmits a request to theloyalty system (e.g., system 800). The system checks the locationreceived from the mobile device against any available contests thatmight relate to that particular location at block 1103. At block 1104,the system returns a list of available contests to the SDK to berendered on the display on the mobile device at block 1105. At block1106, process 1100 ends.

FIG. 12 shows a flowchart for monitoring user behavior according toanother embodiment of the present invention. A block 1201, process 1200begins. A block 1202, the SDK transmits an event with a keyword andapplication identifier (ID) to loyalty system (e.g., loyalty system800). In one embodiment, the application ID uniquely identifies anapplication in the loyalty system, and is used to identify particularevents with the application. At block 1203, the system checks thereceived event against preconfigured behaviors stored by the loyaltysystem. At block 1204, the system stores the event received andassociates the event to a particular application identifier. Forinstance, the system may be capable of storing a history of actionsperformed by the user within particular applications. As discussed,multiple actions may be necessary to trigger a particular event. Atblock 1205, if a particular behavior is achieved, the system returns anyassociated content to the SDK. At block 1206, the SDK displays or cachescontent for later display on the mobile device. At block 1207, process1200 ends.

FIG. 13 shows a flowchart for monitoring user behavior according toanother embodiment of the present invention. At block 1301, process 1300begins. At block 1302, the SDK transmits a display request with anapplication ID to the loyalty system (e.g., system 800). The systemchecks, at block 1303, against preconfigured behaviors. If a particularbehavior is achieved, the system returns associated content at block1304. At block 1305, the SDK displays or caches content for laterdisplay at the mobile device. At block 1306, process 1300 ends.

FIG. 14 shows a flowchart for authenticating applications to loyaltysystem according to one embodiment of the present invention. At block1401, process 1400 begins. At block 1402, a developer registers anapplication with the loyalty system. This may be accomplished, forexample, through a user interface to the loyalty system provided todevelopers to register their applications. At block 1403, the loyaltysystem generates an application key and application secret, which arethen stored in a data store of the loyalty system. At block 1404, thedeveloper uses the application key in the application secret toauthenticate the application with the loyalty system. Onceauthenticated, the application can freely communicate with the loyaltysystem as the user uses the application. At block 1405, process 1400ends.

FIG. 15 shows a flowchart for integrating an application with theloyalty system platform or to one embodiment of the present invention.In block 1501, process 1500 begins. At block 1502, a developer compilesan SDK or other software component into an application program. Asdiscussed above, components may be provided to developers to easilyintegrate loyalty system functions and content delivery functions intoapplications. Otherwise, components and/or applications are madeavailable to applications on the mobile device that include callablefuncations. At block 1503, a developer implements “event” callsthroughout the application. These event calls are correlated withactions that are performed within the application that are of interestto the loyalty system. At block 1504, a developer, within a portal,defined behaviors as multiple event calls with particular attributes.For instance, an event may be defined as an opening of a particularapplication. In this example, the developer may specify that when theuser opens the particular application five times, that behavior shouldbe awarded some benefit. Within the portal, the developer may associateparticular behaviors that relate to events with differentawards/prizes/contests or other benefit at block 1505. At block 1506,process 1500 ends.

FIG. 16 shows a flowchart for providing awards and associating theseawards with application behaviors according to one embodiment of thepresent invention. At block 1601, process 1600 begins. At block 1602, anoperator loads offers/awards/prizes into the system. For instance, theoperator may include an advertiser, application provider, or some otheruser that is capable of configuring awards or other benefits to beprovided to the user. At block 1603, and operator targets particularoffers/awards/prizes based on location and/or other attributes in anycombination. According to one embodiment, particularoffers/awards/prizes are targeted to particular users and locations. Forinstance, some awards may be only applicable to particular geographicarea or may be legal within that area. Further, an operator may targetapplications with which the offers/awards/prizes may be available atblock 1604. According to one embodiment, particular offers/awards/prizesmay be only associated with certain applications. At block 605, thesystem makes those offers/awards/prizes available to particularapplications. At block 1606, process 1600 ends.

FIG. 17 shows a flowchart for monitoring user behavior according to oneembodiment of the present invention. At block 1701, process 1700 begins.A block 1702, the advertiser loads offers/awards/prizes into the system.For instance, this information may be uploaded to the system via anadvertiser portal or some other interface. At block 1703, the advertisertargets the offers/awards/prizes based on location and/or otherattributes in any combination. At block 1704, an advertiser targetsparticular applications with which the offers/awards/prizes areavailable. At block 1705, and advertiser loads display contentassociated with particular offers/awards/prizes to the system. Asdiscussed above, this may be accomplished using, for instance, a portalprovided to the advertiser. At block 1706, the loyalty system makes theloaded offers/awards/prizes available to particular applications. Atblock 1707, process 1700 ends.

FIG. 18 shows a flowchart for monitoring user behavior according to oneembodiment of the present invention. At block 1801, process 1800 begins.At block 1802, and operator loads advertiser information to the loyaltysystem (e.g., system 800). At block 1803, an operator creates an adcampaign and associates the campaign to the advertiser. According to oneembodiment, interface tools may be provided to an operator (e.g., a userassociated with the advertiser) that allow the advertiser to create andmanage particular advertising campaigns. At block 1804, the operatorcreates an ad group and associates the group with the ad campaign. Atblock 1805, the operator creates an ad unit associates the ad unit tothe ad group. At block 1806, the operator creates targeting attributesand associates these attributes to the ad group/unit combination. Atblock 1807, process 1800 ends.

FIG. 19 shows a flowchart for monitoring user behavior according to oneembodiment of the present invention. At block 1901, process 1900 begins.At block 1902, an operator defines behaviors as multiple “event” callswith attributes in one application or cross multiple applications.According to one embodiment, behaviors defined in the system mayencompass more than one application, allowing easier creation of eventsamong many applications. For instance, an application developer maychoose to define a behavior that encompasses more than one applicationprovided by the application developer. Further, in another example, anadvertiser may want to define an event that spans different applicationsbut yet relates to the same type of activity that the advertising wouldlike to encourage. At block 1903, the operator associates content tothese behaviors. Block 1904, the operator associates one or moreadvertisements to the content. At block 1905, process 1900 ends.

FIG. 20 shows an example user interface according to one embodiment ofthe present invention. As shown, interface 2000 may include one or moreareas (e.g., a pop-up window displayed in the interface of a mobiledevice) that may be displayed to a user upon the user triggering someevent or otherwise exhibiting some behavior. In one embodiment,interface 2000 may indicate some level of status such as an indicator2001 (e.g., a badge) that the user has achieved by exhibiting thebehavior using one or more applications. Further, the interface maydisplay to the user an amount of loyalty points that the user hasaccrued over time based on their actions as shown by indicator 2002.Further, according to one embodiment, an advertiser or developer maydefine some type of local currency that may be awarded to a particularuser and that may be indicated by indicator 2003. According to oneembodiment, the interface 2000 of the user device may display a control2004, that when activated, permits the user to claim a particular awardthat is presented to the user.

FIG. 21 shows another example user interface according to one embodimentof the present invention. As shown, interface 2100 may include one ormore areas (e.g., a pop-up window) that may be displayed to the userupon the user claiming particular award (e.g., by selecting control2004). Interface 2100 may include a constant area 2101 which includesinformation in a predefined format and located in a number of fixedareas within the interface. For example, interface 2100 may include anindicator 2103 that provides an indication of some status award (e.g., abadge). A message 2104 may be provided that indicates what status wasawarded by performing the action within the application. Further,message 2104 may indicate that the user has successfully claimed theaward. Such messages may be standardized to encompass multipleapplications, advertisers, and operators.

FIG. 22 shows an example of implementation for monitoring and rewardinguser behavior according to one embodiment of the present invention. Inparticular, FIG. 22 shows a user 2201 interacting with the system 2202(e.g., a loyalty system) in a number of example transactions. Asdiscussed, user 2201 may operate a mobile device or other computersystem type, and the user may interact with one or more applicationsthat are being monitored by system 2202. In one example transactions2203, the user performs some application or service activity which iscommunicated from the mobile device to system 2202. Responsive to thatactivity, a reward is communicated to the mobile device operated by theuser and an indication of the reward is displayed to the user.

In another example transaction 2204, the user performs some activitywithin the application or service, and responses to activity andadvertisement is transmitted to the mobile device and display to theuser. After the user has viewed the advertisement, a reward may beprovided to the user and communicated to the mobile device. In anotherexample transaction 2205, a user plays a particular game and whileplaying that game receives an in-game advertisement. After theadvertisement is viewed at the mobile device, a reward is provided tothe user.

In another example transaction 2206, the user performs somelocation-based activity (e.g., the user “checks in” to a particularlocation within a location-based service) and receives a reward based onthat activity. In another example transaction 2207, a user may bepermitted to redeem points the user was awarded based on theirapplication activity. As discussed, awards may include a purchase ofproducts or services, discounts, a gift card, one or more entries togames or sweepstakes, free product samples, points awarded in otherloyalty programs, or any other thing of value may be provided to theuser. Also, the user may be provided a multiplier bonus that multipliesalready-earned points, or otherwise increases an award already provideto the user. The message may require some other action, such as the userselecting a control that initiates a game or sends a message to otherusers. Further, the confirmation of the award may be communicated to themobile device and presented to the user within the interface of themobile device.

FIGS. 23A-23C show various examples of user interfaces according tovarious embodiments of the present invention. In particular, a mobiledevice may include one or more interfaces that are shown responsive tosome action performed by a user within an application. For instance, asshown in FIG. 23A, a device 2301 (such as an iPhone or other mobiledevice capable of executing an application) may include an interface2302A that is displayed when a user exhibits a desired behavior. Forinstance, interface 2302A may include an area that displays an award (a“Star” badge) awarded to the user for his/her 5th visit to tv.com. Theexample shown also displays a control, that when selected by the user,permits the user to play a bonus game (shown on interface 2302B) thatawards additional points to the user. Interfaces 2302A-2302B may alsoinclude areas where sponsors may display any information associated withtheir brands or promotions. In this example, the advertiser is provideda tool that may be easily used to develop a loyalty program withadvertising and interactive game elements.

FIG. 23B shows another example of interfaces that may be displayed on amobile device of a user. For example, interfaces 2303A-2303B may bedisplayed on a device (e.g., device 2301) that shows an award forvisiting tv.com three days in a row, along with an opportunity toachieve a double bonus for watching an advertisement by Ford MotorCompany. If the user selects a control that begins a video (as shownwithin interface 2303B), and the user watches the video in its entirety,a point award may be awarded to the user.

FIG. 23C shows another example of a user interface that may be displayedon a mobile device of the user. For instance, interface 2304 may displayan additional bonus (e.g., a “social” bonus) that is awarded to the userwhen the user performs an action with his/her social network. Forinstance, if the user selects a control that causes the user to “follow”Carnival Cruise Lines on Twitter, then the user may be awarded a pointbonus or other award type.

FIGS. 24A-24C show further examples of user interfaces according tovarious embodiments of the present invention. For instance, FIG. 24Ashows a user interface flow where some achievement is unlocked and anaward is offered, and a user has to claim the award (e.g., an award of3,000 M points and a “Newbie” badge). When the user unlocks the award,and interface as shown in FIG. 24B may be displayed that explains theachievement and confirms the award. In another example, the system mayprovide the opportunity to receive an additional reward or redeem pointsfor particular rewards when selecting certain controls within theinterface. As shown in FIG. 24C, there may be displayed a number ofavailable awards, and as shown, these awards may be targeted to aparticular user based on their behaviors in applications, what is knownabout the user, among other information. Such an interface may alsopermit the user to maintain their loyalty accounts, such as viewing whatawards the user has received, manage profile settings, view pointsearned by the user, among other actions.

FIG. 25 shows another example of a user interface according to variousembodiments of the present invention. For instance, in one exampleinterface 2500, a user may be able to monitor his/her achievement asprovided by the loyalty system. As discussed, a user interface displayedby a mobile device may provide an indication of the points earnedthrough the loyalty program. Further, the interface (e.g., interface2500) may also provide an indication 2501 of a status stream of all ofthe application activities that were performed by the user thatcontributed to advancement in the loyalty program. For instance, acontrol may be provided that permits the user to view the sessionactivity related to any achievements. In another embodiment, the usermay be permitted to view any badges awarded by selecting a controlpresented within the user interface. In one embodiment (2502), anachievement structure may be integrated within the user's social graphand a user may be able to view other's progress to encourage competitionwithin the user's social network.

In one example implementation, the user may be permitted to manage their“friends” or other social network relationships using interface 2500.The interface may show current friends, permit the user to contactfriends defined in other platforms or social networking services. Theloyalty system may permit communication between social network platformsfor the purpose of connecting the user with their network to shareachievement information. In one example implementation, interface 2500may include a “leaderboard” application and display area 2504 that showspoint totals collected by various users in the user's social network.Further, additional bonus points may be awarded to particular leaders,depending on their status in the leaderboard.

Other Game Implementations

As discussed further below, variations of a location-based game may beprovided. In one example game format, an opportunity may be provided bythe system to a user to win and to place a chance to win within a“geofence” designated by the sponsor, the system, or a user. Thegeofence may be, for example, an area designated in which the chance towin (or other item type) can be acted on. For instance, there may be aspecial game conducted in a block party location, and only peoplelocated within that block can act on items positioned within that block.

In another example game format, an opportunity for a user to win may beprovided to a user based on him or her placing that chance to win atsome location. For instance, the act of placing an item at a particularlocation may trigger an opportunity to win for the player. In somecases, an opportunity to win may be determined based on a combination ofactions performed by multiple players.

In yet another embodiment, an opportunity to receive or win an entryticket into a real-time single or multiplayer game of skill or chancemay be provided based on location of the player as well as to place anentry ticket into a real-time single or multiplayer game of skill orchance. In another game format, a user may be permitted to select from aplurality of chances to win and place them. For instance, if thatparticular user likes a particular prize (e.g., a coupon to a store ofhis/her choosing), that user may make the game more interesting to himor her, or others in his/her social network. For example, a user placesa coupon to Talbots knowing that the user's friends shop at Talbots.

Further, there may be other game formats where sponsors are permitted tocreate chances to win that are placed by the user. In this example, asponsor may be awarding particular prizes, and the users are responsiblefor placing the prizes in certain locations. This may be preferable toconventional forms of marketing, as the application uses the socialnetworking and/or viral placement of items instead of more traditionalforms of advertising (e.g., direct mail, print, etc.) which may not findthe optimum targets. Rather, the social network is used to distributeadvertisements and/or prizes.

In yet another game format, sponsors may be provided an opportunity toaward chances to win based on a user's value. Such value may determinedby information about the user (e.g., demographic information),behavioral information for the user (e.g., their browsing history,purchasing history, etc.), or other information.

Further, sponsors to create chances to win based on the value of theuser's “friend list” or other network relations. If a person has astrong network or otherwise includes people that have large value to thesponsor, that person may have more value. Sponsors may target that valueand make or modify prizes based on the determined value.

Other game formats may allow for a user to place a trap that captures achance to win. For instance, a user may place a trap game element in aparticular location, and when prizes are carried by other users, placedby a sponsor, or otherwise placed on or near the location, that userthat placed the trap element may be awarded that particular prize. Alongthese lines, a sponsor may be permitted to release “prey” elements thatcan be trapped by a user. These “prey” may be stationary objects or mayhave some ability to autonomously move between locations. These prey mayalso be restricted by the game system to stay within a predefined area.This predefined area may be a series of borders defined by a sponsor orother user, some geographic location (e.g., a college campus, a skiarea, etc.), radius from a defined location, building, neighborhood,location point or other defined area. This feature may allow, forexample, private competitions to be set up for limited groups (e.g.,Wellesley College students) that could foster greater interest becauseof locality of the game.

These “prey” may be autonomous elements that move about within gamelocations. Such movement may be based on one or more rules, artificialintelligence, algorithm, or some other criteria. The prey may also bereactionary to other's behaviors in the game (e.g., the prey may movebased on other player movement, or interactions with other prey that maybe autonomous or semi-autonomous). Prey may be restricted by certaincriteria, such as the “geofence” construct described above. However,other restrictions may be imposed, such as time (e.g., prey expire aftera predefined or semi-random lifespan), points/money (e.g., prey can havelimited values, ranges, may increase/decrease in value, depending on anynumber of factors), or any other limitation.

Game elements such as the prey described above may be created usinggeotagged items. These items may be found in one or more location basedservices (e.g., Twitter). For instance, in Twitter, a user may bepermitted to geotag their tweets. In one embodiment, geotagged itemssuch as tweets may be represented within a location-based game as preythat interact with the location-based game after creation (e.g., afterthe “tweet”, the tweet begins to move around the location-based game).Other items may be created from a location-based service and may berepresented in the online location-based game. For instance, photos canbe geotagged in an application and then represented in the game (e.g.,the photos may be items themselves, may be held or left by the player,or otherwise represent the player). In one aspect of the presentinvention, items created in one location based service may be translatedinto items represented in a different location based service (e.g., aTweet may appear as an element displayed on a Google Mapsrepresentation).

In another embodiment, virtual items that are collected in a locationbased game have a real-world equivalent that may be used outside of thelocation-based game. For example, a player may collect game cards to beused in a real-time game competition, such as a geobingo game whereplayers collect bingo cards as they go about their daily activities(i.e., visiting various locations where bingo cards are placed withinthe location-based game). The collected bingo cards from thelocation-based game may be used for an actual bingo game played by theplayer.

In yet another embodiment, a player may leave items such as a “gift” forother designated players to open across a plurality of location basedservices. For instance, a player may leave one of their friend or otherpeople in their network a ringtone, a joke, a coupon, etc. in adesignated place that only the gift recipient can open. The recipientmay be permitted to open the gift irrespective of what location basedservice they use.

In yet another implementation, a player may leave a chance to win aspecified item in a store by playing a game. For instance, a user sees aMicrosoft XBox game that he/she knows his/her friend would like. Becauseit's his/her friend's birthday, the user takes a picture of the barcodeat the store location of the Xbox game. By taking the picture, the gamesystem establishes the item in a game database. The user may establishhis/her own rules for winning the “gift.” For instance, the user may setthe odds of winning the gift at 50%, select the game that his/her friendplays to win the gift, and the game playing system may be adapted toalert the store system that the friend, if he/she wins the game, getsthis item for free when he/she returns to the store to claim the Xboxgame and the store should bill the user's credit card. Other gameformats are possible using such a location-based construct, such as an“Easter egg” hunt or other virtual prize game based on location. To thisend, interfaces may be provided for the user to easily create suchgames, create virtual items associated with an actual location, andadminister prizes.

In one implementation, the system associates a player when they chooseto participate with a unique identifier or code. This identifier or codemay include the following information, either alone or in combinationwith other information:

-   -   The geographic location of the user (e.g., as determined by GPS,        triangulation between cell towers, or other method)    -   Elevation (above, below or at ground level)    -   MAC address (or similar identifier) of the mobile device    -   Mobile device phone number    -   Username/Password    -   Game elements, users, and/or physical attributes (e.g.,        businesses, buildings, mountains) near based on the        location/elevation

This identifier may be used to identify the user uniquely in thenetwork, and may be transmitted over a network to one or more locations.The code may be received electronically through the mobile network, maybe given at a location to a computer system at a purchase location(e.g., a bar code or other identification). Receipt of the code at aparticular location may be used to verify the user at the particularlocation. The code may also be used to verify that there are prizeseligible for the player to win or give away at the user's location orwithin a certain distance of the user's location based on the user'slocation information and/or status within the game.

The user may also may have an associated profile, which can include, forinstance, the user's status in a location-based game. In one embodiment,the user may be permitted to unlock functionality in a location-basedservice depending on their status in the game. For instance, if a playerachieves a “gold” or other certain level of status, the player mayreceive particular information form their location-based service (e.g.,free speed trap updates, restaurant review information, real estatedetail information, or other information on their mapping/navigation, orother location based service). Such status may be achieved in any numberof ways, such as by continued participation in the game, achievementthrough collection of prizes, value of a person's social network orindividual worth, payment of a fee, or other method of acquiring status.

Prizes that may be awarded by a sponsor of the game may include, forexample, cash or merchandise/services, discounts onmerchandise/services, points to a leaderboard contest, sweepstakesentries, tickets or chances to play in other games including real-timegames, multiplayer turn-based or real-time games.

As discussed, aspects of the invention relate to integration withmultiple location-based services. To this end, communication featuresmay be provided that permit a verified player to be communicated to anetwork of players. For instance, when the player enters a location(e.g., as indicated by a mobile device associated with the player), amessage may be communicated from a game system to one or more locationbased services. In one example, a tweet, Facebook message, instantmessage and/or other information may be communicated to other people inthe verified player's network. Also, depending on a player's logicalconnection, that person may receive a directed message to the networktheir connected to (e.g., they are reachable/logged into Facebook, so amessage is sent to his/her Facebook account). The player may alsoselectively choose which channels to communicate with different players.

In one implementation, the player may have control over communicationwith other players. One function that may be permitted includes theplayer selectively broadcasting a message including a prize location toa network of players, some of whom may be located/enrolled in differentlocation based services. The player may also notify others of thelocation of the prizes that the player has placed for other players to anetwork. Such a notification may be directed to individual players,groups of players, players located in a specific location, or an entirenetwork or subset thereof.

Another aspect relates to allowing a player to view game state acrossmultiple aforementioned location based services. It is appreciated thata person may use multiple location based services throughout the day,and it may be beneficial to track progress in the location-based gamewhile using such services. To this end, the system may permit the playerto view game state in different location-based services in parallel.

Further, another aspect of game play may permit a player to togglebetween different styles of play. For instance, a player may bepermitted to toggle between a prize grabbing mode, a trapping mode orfishing mode, a planting or seeding mode where the player distributesprizes, a shooting mode where the player shoots at items, or a modewhere the player themselves is a prize (e.g., a dating mode based on thelocation of the player).

In another example game format, the player, wherein upon placing aprize, can win based on the prize they placed. In another option, aplayer can increase the range of gathering and placing prizes amongdifferent locations. In yet another game play mode, groups of playerscan form teams to play and can compete as a group for prizes.

Some game formats may combine social networking with games that use thewho as well as the where to create a robust advertising and marketingplatform. For instance, a “Prizebagger” game may be offered that allowsa player to collect prizes as they visit different locations, along withcommunicating with their network using a social networking application(e.g., Twitter, Facebook). In another game format, a Fishing/HuntingGame may be provided that allows individual players to compete withtheir friends in capturing prey, fish, and/or prizes. Other game formatsmay be location-aware games that involve only players at specificlocations, such as a bingo, Scrabble, Battleship or other game typerestricted to a particular location. Also, as discussed, games may beprovided that relate to dating where the player is the actual prize, andthe player leaves clues or other information at particular geographiclocations. Other game types and formats are possible using location andmultiple location-based services as discussed above.

According to another aspect, location based games and associated systemsare provided that are initiated by the players and played out via alocation. For instance, via a mobile application or through the API thatplugs into other location based applications (LBSs), the player ispermitted to leave a “challenge” for a person/player at a physicallocation. In one option, the player chooses how much time the personbeing challenged has to take the player up on the challenge.

The player may also be able to choose a topic for the challenge. In oneimplementation, a message may be sent to the challenged person/playervia a social networking application or other messaging platformindicating the challenge. For instance, a message may be sent viaTwitter, Facebook or some other platform. For instance, a message may besimilar to:

-   -   “You have been challenged to [topic] by [friend]. You have        [time] to complete the challenge. http://bit.ly/rf5haz”

Notably, the message may include an indication or reference to alocation associated with the challenge. For instance, the message mayinclude a URL that points to a map where the challenge will take place.Further, the map, message, or other application may indicate the amountof time left for the challenge, what person(s)/player(s) werechallenged, or any other information regarding the game.

Additionally, if the person/player who was challenged initiates anyconnected LBS system (e.g., on a portable device), the challenge may bedisplayed in the LBS interface also. If the LBS system is currentlyactive, the challenge may be displayed to the player or the player mayreceive some other type of notification when the player arrives at ornear the location. If the challenge takes place, the interface of theLBS (e.g., a web page or other interface type) may list the person whowas challenged and their score. According to another embodiment, thegame system may also update the state of the game across all LBSs (e.g.,those that are linked via an API), any social networking or other typesof applications (e.g., post to Twitter, Facebook, etc.)).

The challenge can include any number of games. For instance, thechallenge may include a skill-based game, luck-based game, orcombination thereof. In one implementation, the challenge may be a quizon the topic selected by the player creating the challenge.

In the case of a quiz-based challenge, after the player completes thequiz, the player may be displayed his/her score (e.g., within theinterface of the LBS). In one implementation, the game may thenautomatically challenge the challenger back in form of a duel. Forinstance, at that location, players could be locked in a head-to-headchallenge for extended period of time.

Interest of such a location-based game may be high in places thatfriends frequent, but not always together (and/or at the same time). Forinstance, a game between players may be held at a subway, bus station,work, the local bar, walk to work, sports arena or stadiums, or anyother location. Further, the location need not be the exact samelocation, but may be a logical designation (e.g., as determined by aplayer). For instance, any place on the subway or any location, withinthe stadium, along a path to work, or any set of locations may be usedas locations that can be used for a challenge-based game.

After the player completes their challenge, the challenger may benotified via another message (e.g., the player's Twitter stream,Facebook, linked LBS systems, etc.) of his/her score. For instance, thechallenger may be sent the following or similar message:

-   -   “@mark_herrmann your challenge was completed. @sweller scored        1,250 points. You have been re-challenged!        http://bit.ly/rf34daf”        Such a challenge-based game using messages and locations may        have other features in place of or in addition to the features        described above.

Having thus described several aspects of at least one embodiment of thisinvention, it is to be appreciated various alterations, modifications,and improvements will readily occur to those skilled in the art. Suchalterations, modifications, and improvements are intended to be part ofthis disclosure, and are intended to be within the spirit and scope ofthe invention. Accordingly, the foregoing description and drawings areby way of example only.

1. A computer-implemented method comprising acts of: monitoringuser-initiated actions within a plurality of executing applications, theexecuting applications being executed on a computer system associatedwith a user; determining, by the computer system, that the userperformed at least one application-related action; sending an indicationof the application-related action to a loyalty system; determining anaward based on the application-related action; communicating anindication of the award to the computer system; and displaying theindication of the award to the user.
 2. The computer-implemented methodaccording to claim 1, further comprising an act of requiring the user toaccept the award.
 3. The computer-implemented method according to claim1, further comprising an act of providing an interface to the pluralityof executing applications to communicate events relating touser-initiated actions within the plurality of executing applications.4. The computer-implemented method according to claim 1, furthercomprising acts of: communicating an advertisement to the computersystem; displaying the advertisement to the user in the display of thecomputer system; and providing an award to the user responsive to theuser viewing the advertisement.
 5. The computer-implemented methodaccording to claim 1, further comprising an act of sending at least oneevent relating to at least one user-initiated action within theplurality of executing applications to the loyalty system.
 6. Thecomputer-implemented method according to claim 5, further comprising anact of storing, by the loyalty system, an indication of the at least oneevent relating to the at least one user-initiated action within theplurality of executing applications.
 7. The computer-implemented methodaccording to claim 5, further comprising an act of determining, by theloyalty system, if the at least one event relating to the at least oneuser-initiated action within the plurality of executing applicationsmeets a predefined behavior defined by the loyalty system.
 8. Thecomputer-implemented method according to claim 7, wherein if it isdetermined by the loyalty system that the at least one event meets thepredefined behavior, performing an act of providing content to anapplication that triggered the at least one event.
 9. Thecomputer-implemented method according to claim 1, further comprising anact of determining a location of the user based on a location of thecomputer system, and determining the award to the user responsive to thedetermined location of the user.
 10. The computer-implemented methodaccording to claim 1, further comprising acts of: storing, by theloyalty system, a plurality of events; and storing, by the loyaltysystem, an association of the plurality of events with a predefinedbehavior.
 11. The computer-implemented method according to claim 10,further comprising acts of: determining if the predefined behavior isachieved by one or more application-related actions performed by theuser; and if the predefined behavior is achieved, selecting content tobe displayed to the user; and communicating the selected content to thecomputer system associated with the user.
 12. The computer-implementedmethod according to claim 10, wherein the predefined behavior is definedacross a plurality of applications that are executed by the computersystem associated with the user.
 13. The computer-implemented methodaccording to claim 1, further comprising acts of: registering, by theloyalty system, at least one of the plurality of executing applications;generating, by the loyalty system, authentication information to be usedby the application; using the authentication information to authenticatethe application with the loyalty system; communicating, by theauthenticated application to the loyalty system, that the user performedthe at least one application-related action.
 14. Thecomputer-implemented method according to claim 11, further comprising anact of storing an association between the predefined behavior and the atleast one of the plurality of executing applications.
 15. Thecomputer-implemented method according to claim 1, further comprisingacts of: presenting an interface to an operator to define one or moreawards based on one or more application-related actions; and presentingan interface targeting the one or more awards to one or moreapplications.
 16. A distributed computer system comprising: a componentadapted to monitor user-initiated actions within a plurality ofexecuting applications, the executing applications being executed on acomputer system associated with a user; a component that is adapted todetermine that the user performed at least one application-relatedaction; a component that is adapted to send an indication of theapplication-related action to a loyalty system, wherein the loyaltysystem is adapted to determine an award based on the application-relatedaction and communicate an indication of the award to the computer systemassociated with the user; and a component adapted to display theindication of the award to the user.
 17. The system according to claim16, further comprising a component that requires the user to accept theaward.
 18. The system according to claim 16, further comprising aninterface to the plurality of executing applications that is adapted tocommunicate events relating to user-initiated actions within theplurality of executing applications.
 19. The system according to claim16, further comprising a component adapted to communicate anadvertisement to the computer system, a component adapted to display theadvertisement to the user in the display of the computer system, and acomponent adapted to provide an award to the user responsive to the userviewing the advertisement.
 20. The system according to claim 16, furthercomprising component adapted to send at least one event relating to atleast one user-initiated action within the plurality of executingapplications to the loyalty system.
 21. The system according to claim20, further comprising component adapted to store, by the loyaltysystem, an indication of the at least one event relating to the at leastone user-initiated action within the plurality of executingapplications.
 22. The system according to claim 20, further comprising acomponent that is adapted to determine if the at least one eventrelating to the at least one user-initiated action within the pluralityof executing applications meets a predefined behavior defined by theloyalty system.
 23. The system according to claim 22, wherein if it isdetermined by the loyalty system that the at least one event meets thepredefined behavior, a component is adapted to perform an act ofproviding content to an application that triggered the at least oneevent.
 24. The system according to claim 16, further comprising acomponent adapted to determine a location of the user based on alocation of the computer system, and a component adapted to determinethe award to the user responsive to the determined location of the user.25. The system according to claim 16, further comprising: a componentadapted to store a plurality of events; and a component adapted to storean association of the plurality of events with a predefined behavior.26. The system according to claim 25, further comprising: a componentadapted to determine if the predefined behavior is achieved by one ormore application-related actions performed by the user; and if thepredefined behavior is achieved, a component is configured to selectcontent to be displayed to the user; and a component adapted tocommunicate the selected content to the computer system associated withthe user.
 27. The system according to claim 25, wherein the predefinedbehavior is defined across a plurality of applications that are executedby the computer system associated with the user.
 28. The systemaccording to claim 16, further comprising: a component adapted toregister at least one of the plurality of executing applications; acomponent adapted to generate authentication information to be used bythe application; a component adapted to use the authenticationinformation to authenticate the application with the loyalty system; anda component adapted to communicate, that the user performed the at leastone application-related action using the authentication information. 29.The system according to claim 26, further comprising a component adaptedto store an association between the predefined behavior and the at leastone of the plurality of executing applications.
 30. The system accordingto claim 16, further comprising an interface that is adapted to permitan operator to define one or more awards based on one or moreapplication-related actions; and wherein the interface is furtheradapted to target the one or more awards to one or more applications.31. A computer-implemented method comprising acts of: providing alocation-based game played by at least one user through a mobile device;determining a location of the at least one user; using the determinedstatus of the at least one user to update a status of the location-basedgame; and communicating the status of the location-based game among aplurality of location-based services.
 32. The method according to claim31, wherein the act of determining a location of the at least one userincludes an act of determining the location of the at least one user bythe mobile device.
 33. The method according to claim 31, furthercomprising presenting a game element of the location-based game withinthe plurality of location-based services.
 34. The method according toclaim 31, further comprising providing an abstraction layer thatcommunicates with the plurality of location-based services.
 35. Themethod according to claim 31, further comprising an act of permittingthe at least one user to observe the status of the location-based gameusing an interface of at least one of the plurality of location-basedservices.
 36. The method according to claim 35, further comprising anact of creating, within the interface of at least one of the pluralityof location-based services, at least one game element associated withthe location-based game.
 37. The method according to claim 35, furthercomprising an act of permitting the at least one user to place the atleast one game element in a location represented within thelocation-based service.
 38. The method according to claim 37, furthercomprising permitting at least one other user to interact with the atleast one game element within the location-based game.
 39. The methodaccording to claim 37, further comprising an act of permitting the atleast one user to move the at least one game element to anotherlocation.
 40. The method according to claim 37, further comprising anact of restricting the at least one user to place a limited number ofgame elements.
 41. The method according to claim 37, further comprisingan act of permitting the at least one user to collect the at least onegame element if the at least one user is located within a predetermineddistance proximate to the at least one game element.
 42. The methodaccording to claim 41, wherein the act of permitting the at least oneuser to collect the at least one game element further comprises an actof permitting the at least one user to collect the at least one gameelement if the at least one player is located within an area designatedby a provider of the at least one game element.
 43. The method accordingto claim 37, wherein the at least one game element is a trap thatenables the at least one user to capture a chance to win.
 44. The methodaccording to claim 37, wherein the at least one game element representsan opportunity to win a prize across the plurality of location-basedservices.
 45. The method according to claim 44, further comprising anact of permitting a prize sponsor to fund a prize that is located by theat least one user across the plurality of location-based services. 46.The method according to claim 35, further comprising an act ofpermitting a sponsor to place at least one game element in a locationacross the plurality of location-based services.
 47. The methodaccording to claim 46, wherein the at least one game element representsan opportunity to win a prize.
 48. The method according to claim 31,further comprising an act of permitting the at least one user to observethe status of the location-based game using a plurality of interfacesassociated with respective ones of the plurality of location-basedservices, and permitting the at least one user to switch between theplurality of interfaces to the location-based game.
 49. The methodaccording to claim 31, further comprising an act of permitting the atleast one user to create parameters used in performing thelocation-based game.
 50. The method according to claim 31, furthercomprising an act of associating the at least one user with a uniqueidentifier.
 51. The method according to claim 50, wherein the uniqueidentifier includes at least one of a group of information comprising: ageographic location; elevation; identifier associated with the mobiledevice; username and password; elements located near the geographiclocation; and other users located near the geographic location.
 52. Themethod according to claim 50, further comprising acts of transmittingthe unique identifier from the mobile device to a system located at ageographic location, and verifying the location of the at least one userat the geographic location.
 53. The method according to claim 52,further comprising determining a prize available to the at least oneuser based on his/her verified location.
 54. The method according toclaim 31, further comprising permitting the user to play one or morelocation-based games within the interface of the mobile device.
 55. Themethod according to claim 54, wherein one or more of the location-basedgames includes one or more styles of play including: a prize grabbingfeature; a trapping game; a planting or seeding of prizes; shootingprizes; and user-based prizes.
 56. The method according to claim 53,further comprising determining a value of the prize based on one or moreof the group comprising: an establishment at or near the location of theat least one user; demographic information of the at least one user;psychographic information of the at least one user; informationassociated with the mobile device; and contact information of the atleast one user.
 57. The method according to claim 31, further comprisingwherein upon placing a prize, the at least one user can win based on theprize they placed.
 58. The method according to claim 31, furthercomprising wherein the at least one user can increase the range ofgathering and placing prizes.
 59. A computer-implemented methodcomprising acts of: providing a location-based game played by at leastone user through a mobile device; determining a location of the at leastone user; permitting the at least one user to place the at least onegame element in a location at or near the determined location of the atleast one user; representing the at least one game element within atleast one interface of a plurality of location-based services; andcommunicating the representation of the at least one game element amongthe plurality of location-based services.
 60. The method according toclaim 59, further comprising an act of permitting the at least one userto observe the status of the location-based game using a plurality ofinterfaces associated with respective ones of the plurality oflocation-based services, and permitting the at least one user to switchbetween the plurality of interfaces to the location-based game.
 61. Themethod according to claim 59, wherein the act of determining a locationof the at least one user includes an act of determining the location ofthe at least one user by the mobile device.
 62. A distributed systemcomprising: a game playing computer adapted to provide a location-basedgame played by at least one user, the game playing computer having agame interface that represents the game to the at least one user; acomponent adapted to determine a location of the at least one user,wherein the game interface permits the at least one user to place atleast one game element in a location at or near the determined locationof the at least one user; a component that represents the at least onegame element within at least one interface of a plurality oflocation-based services; and a component that is adapted to communicatethe representation of the at least one game element among the pluralityof location-based services.
 63. The system according to claim 62,wherein the plurality of location-based services include a plurality ofrespective interfaces through which the location-based game is rendered,and wherein the game playing computer includes a component that permitsthe at least one user to switch between the plurality of respectiveinterfaces.
 64. The system according to claim 62, wherein componentadapted to determine a location of the at least one user includes acomponent of a mobile device associated with the at least one user.